Industrial Automation Magazine India

The productivity of the global economy largely depends on data centres

Published on : Wednesday 07-06-2023

Sachin Bhalla, VP – Secure Power Division, India and SAARC, Schneider Electric.

What is the present scenario in India’s data storage industry, and the anticipated high growth in the wake of regulatory initiatives?
The Indian Data centre industry is currently experiencing a growth spurt with an estimated 2.4x growth predicted between 2022 and 2024. With a proposed capacity increase by 804 MW between 2022 and 2024, the industry is poised to serve the growing demand for digital services by both government and private actors. This sectoral growth is also largely attributable to the data centre policy of 2020 published by India’s electronics and IT ministry to simplify clearance procedures for setting up data centres. With a strong demand-side growth prediction and the government aiding the supply side to expand, the data storage industry is touted to be one the strongest growing and with a predicted CAGR of 34%.
 
What are the typical challenges data centres face in setting up operations and scaling them?
The productivity of the global economy largely depends on data centres which have challenged companies to scale and operate these facilities in an efficient yet sustainable method. Reported to consume 1.3% of the global electricity demand and produce significant carbon emissions, operators have to meet unrelenting consumer demand and align themselves with the global effort of meeting Net-Zero goals by 2050.
 
Data centres must be operational 24x7 to meet the increasing demand of today’s digital space. This poses a significant challenge to operate 365 days a year at all times while providing continuous access to important data and applications. Any faulty downtime can result in operational and financial penalties. To streamline operations, companies are adopting operational management tools and purpose-built workflows to reduce operational expenses while keeping consistency in uptime. Security is another critical concern for data centre operators given the sensitivity of data stored. To protect data centres from security threats, operators must adopt multi-factor authentication, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems among the many technologies to combat cyberattacks.
 
Accommodating scale is a challenge that data centre operators struggle to meet. Providing the appropriate infrastructure to assist increasingly high IT requirements in terms of storage and network needs is often cause for concern. To meet digital lifestyles and demands of intelligent infrastructures, data centres must scale which has led to a demand for hybrid data centres that provides a more centralised, regional and local edge. The key to meeting these challenges is leveraging the advantage of connected infrastructures that would result in sustainability, adaptivity and resilience in the data centre industry. In conclusion, the barriers to entry are fairly high for successfully setting up data centres and scaling them becomes an even more daunting task because of the factors mentioned above.
 
Data centres are highly energy intensive with a corresponding carbon footprint. How does this impact the sustainability equation?

The root cause for energy usage and carbon emission has often been traced back to digital technologies that either help or impede global clean energy transitions. This is caused even by the digitalisation of the energy sector. In 2020 it was reported that data centres and data transmission networks account for 300 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent which is 0.6% of total greenhouse gas emissions. However, with collective efforts toward energy efficiency and technologies developed to function on renewable resources, harmful emissions have grown at a slower pace despite the increasing demand for digital services. 
 
Given the demand and supply trend of data centres driven by new age factors such as block chain – for example bitcoin, machine learning, etc., the use of these facilities is going to be even more widespread. Therefore, it becomes pertinent for energy analysts and policy makers to understand and manage energy use implications for the future. Technologies such as AI/ML, IoT and connected networks are going to be instrumental in making data centres sustainable.
 
With an ambitious renewable energy policy from solar and wind, can data centres in India be run on clean energy?
With the growing penetration of technology, India’s data centre market is reported to exceed a capacity of 1 Gigawatt. India’s software industry is currently bullish and the adoption of cloud technology along with data localisation is on the rise leading to revolutionary progress in the data centre industry.
 
Over the years, there has been a collective effort from the government, society and corporations to encourage net zero practices and drive a strong clean-energy vision in the country. From 2021, India has witnessed a 27% increase in solar installations other than various renewable sources such as wind, hydel and biomass power generation. In addition to this, the government of India has pledged to increase its renewable capacity by 500 GW to align with the vision of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2070. Therefore, the data centre industry in India is well positioned to run in the clean energy space due to the push for renewables and healthy ESG metrics. Environmental sustainability is a global responsibility that impacts every source on the planet. Therefore, all stakeholders must strive for a greener future.
 
How does Schneider Electric help data centres decarbonise their energy requirements? Is there an ideal energy mix to achieve this?
Schneider Electric offers a range of solutions and services to help data centres decarbonise their energy requirements:
• Energy Efficiency: Schneider Electric is the market leader in providing energy-efficient solutions that optimize energy consumption of data centres. This includes EcoStruxure Data Center Solutions for cooling, power distribution, lighting, and automation.
• Renewable Energy: By integrating renewable sources such as solar, wind, and hydro power into their energy mix, data centres become more sustainable. This reduces reliance on fossil fuels and decreases carbon emissions.
• Energy Monitoring and Management: Solutions by the company such asData Centre Infrastructure Management Software helps operators monitor, measure and manage data centres. This helps track and analyse energy consumption on a real time basis creating opportunities for energy savings and decarbonisation.
 
There is no one-size fits all solution when it comes to an ideal energy mix for decarbonising data centres. It depends on a variety of factors like location, climate, energy costs, and availability of renewable energy sources. Schneider Electric works with data centres to develop a customised energy strategy that considers these factors and meets their specific needs.
 
The company is known to offer comprehensive solutions for data centres beyond energy. What are these solutions?
Being a market leader in the data centre industry, Schneider Electric has much to offer as solutions to the sector beyond energy which aligns with its core value of sustainability. Solutions such as the 3-phase UPS systems are responsible for delivering high availability and reliability with modular UPS and lithium-ion battery options.The EcoStruxure IT solution is a pioneering development that would elevate data centre infrastructure management software from individual facilities to a complete hybrid IT environment.
 
With growing data storage requirements in anticipation of 5G services leading to a boom in data intensive applications, what is the long term solution?
As the demand for data-intensive applications continues to grow, and 5G services are expected to further accelerate this trend, the long-term solution for data storage requirements is likely to involve a combination of strategies. Some potential long term solutions may include edge computing which is responsible for bringing computation and data storage closer to the location where it is needed, enabling faster response times and reduced latency. Another pertinent solution is hybrid cloud solutions which would combine public and private cloud infrastructure to provide a flexible, scalable, and cost-effective solution for data storage.
 
References
1. https://www.jll.co.in/en/trends-and-insights/research/data-centres-in-india-2021-overview-and-three-year-outlook
2. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/data-stories/visually/stellar-growth-in-indias-data-centre-capacity/article66116916.ece
3. https://dcnnmagazine.com/data-centres/data-centres-three-key-challenges/
4. https://www.iea.org/reports/data-centres-and-data-transmission-networks
5. https://www.se.com/in/en/work/campaign/data-centers-of-the-future/
6. https://www.mercomindia.com/india-installs-record-13-gw-solar-in-2022
7. https://www.thehindu.com/business/schneider-prepares-data-centres-for-net-zero-operations/article65530483.ece